Excuses and Reasons
by RikaAltraz
Summary: There are excuses for why we do things, and there are reasons for why we do things. There are some things we do that have very poor excuses which lead to being the reason we do other things. Can someone who did something very terrible change? Can the reason they want to change be a person they come to care for? Mainly focused on Gajeel and Levy, but everyone else shows up too.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and never will. I don't even aspire to own it. I can wish, but that would be a waste of my one wish. I am just using the characters for my own story. Rating subject to change at my whims, content may change slightly from what you're expecting, and I welcome any and all critiques. Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Levy woke up to an average sunny day.

The clouds were just clearing up, letting in the first of the sun's morning rays. They looked like they had bellies of fire as they died under the coming warmth of the day.

She got up and pulled on the first complete outfit she could find and a hairband to match it was tied to keep her blue hair out of her face.

Her clothes were childlike and cute, the way a lot of people saw her to be.

Most everyone saw her as cute or adorable, not a powerful mage in her own right.

Her Solid Script magic was just as powerful as the other Script mage in the guild, she herself just wasn't as strong as Freed.

She stumbled over her books as she made her way out of her room in the dorm know around the city as Fairy Hills: the Party House. The girls branch wasn't so bad, being in the back of the property and separated by the large open bath house from the boys larger dormitory/barracks.  
Levy met Laki in the hallway as they were making their way to the main part of the guild.

They chatted over some of the things that had happened on their most recent missions.

Laki had had some of the trees she was helping replant catch fire from a kid practicing magic and ended up using her own wood magic to repair the trees as well as spent an hour scolding the boy and giving him pointers to practice on.

Levy told her about her two partners being useless as always. Jet was fast and somewhat strong in his kicks, but he wasn't very accurate and he missed more often than he hit. Droy was slower, and his plants could trap pretty well, but they weren't strong enough to hold a person trapped or fight back.

Laki laughed at the story as they came to the central hall of the guild.

It was fairly run down for the most part in places that didn't get used very often. Not because they didn't have the ability to fix it, but because they just couldn't keep up with the size of the building. And the level of destruction caused by the guys getting out of control.

The hall was mostly empty except for a few of the regulars. The master of the guild, Makarov, and Wakaba sat at the bar counter playing cards as Mira stood behind the counter preparing breakfast for the majority of the guild to come in shortly.

"Morning Mira." Levy called as they came in. Laki moved to look at the job board as Levy went to the counter.

Mira turned and put on her brightest smile, reserved for the people she loved most dearly. Which was most of the main members of the guild, minus a couple who only seemed to piss her off.

"Good morning Levy. Did you stay up reading again last night? You look a bit tired."

"I do? I don't feel tired. Has anyone brought in a job that would be good for me?"

"There might be one, but I don't think so." Mira pulled out a large bowl as she saw Natsu, Happy, and Elfman coming into the guild hall.

Levy turned to watch the Fire Dragon Slayer and the Take-Over mage stumble up to the counter. The flying Exceed plopped himself on the counter.  
Natsu slumped on the counter as Elfman sat beside Levy.

Mira hurried to get food prepared as Natsu mumbled about previous leads being full of crap.

"Following leads is a Mans job." Elfman spoke in his usual loud tones.

"But I hate false leads." Natsu grumbled.

"Then stop and think about the obviously false points before just rushing out." Gray spoke from the other side of the room as he came in. Levy turned to look at him. He wore only a pair of shorts and was carrying his shirt and belt in his right hand as he made his way towards a table. "I overheard something about a Salamander in Hargeon yesterday on my way back from my last mission."

Natsu perked up from the ends of his scale scarf to the tips of his pink hair.

Levy watched as he jumped up, shouting that he was headed to the port town.

Mira smiled after him as Happy jumped up to fly after his Slayer partner.

"See, he'll follow anything without getting the details." Gray smirked as Mira finished up a batch of eggs and set a plate in front of the four at the counter.

Levy had to admit, Natsu could be pretty dense.

She focused on her food and when she was finished, she excused herself to head for the guild library.

She needed to research new magic.

* * *

When Natsu and Happy came back to the guild a few days later, he had brought an oddly familiar girl back with them.

Levy was happy to have another girl in the guild.

She was even more happy to know that Lucy wrote stories. Lucy promised to let her read the one she was working on when she finished it.  
It wasn't another couple days of getting to know the girl, who looked strangely familiar to most of the information collecting members of the guild, before Natsu and Happy dragged her off on another mission. Mira promised to put her network to work and find out who the new girl was.

Levy took a quick job in Magnolia teaching a group of tourists about the history of the town and country. It was perfect for her, being the one person in the guild who knew the most about the history of things. It was one of her favorite subjects to read on, aside from romance and languages.

Things were never quite settled in the Fairy Tail guild, but it was just how things went around there.

Levy and her team stayed around Magnolia as the guild went into an uproar over Natsu and Happy and Lucy going out on an S rank quest. She feared for her friends, but at the same time, she could never hope to stop Natsu when he put his head to something. Levy could only hope Erza brought them back safely, although she'd likely do them as much damage as the quest would.

* * *

The day after the fiasco with Happy stealing the request, Levy woke up to the sound of breaking wood and crushing stone. She groaned as she thought of the damage the fight was causing to the guild and glanced at her clock.

It wasn't even two in the morning.

No one would be in the hall.

She swung her legs to the side of the bed and tugged her long shirt down to cover her thighs properly.

Her half asleep brain managed to not make her trip over her books as she hurried silently out the door.

Most of the senior members and the destructive ones like Natsu and Gray were out on missions.

There shouldn't have been too many members in the guild with a habit of breaking the hall.

She rushed down the hallway, thankful that she was on the first floor.

When she came to the doors leading to the hall, she couldn't even push them open. They were blocked from the inside.

She went to the courtyard door and pushed it open. She stumbled as she looked at the hall from the outside.

There were huge metal beams protruding from it at all angles. It looked like an oversized pin cushion.

She looked up as she saw movement and froze.

Standing on the top of the hall, shrouded in a heavy black coat and a wild mane of black hair stood the only mage that could have done this damage to the guild.

Black Steel Gajeel. The Iron Dragon Slayer.

He jumped from the top of the building as he faced her and she fell backwards. She tripped over the edge of the sidewalk and slammed her head against the ground.

As everything went black to her, she seared the image of his face into her mind.

The sharp canines shown by his maniacal grin, the metal studs on his face, and the cold cruel red eyes of a dragon.

Levy fainted with the hopes that it was all a nightmare brought on by reading dusty old war stories against the old dragons.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and never will. I don't even aspire to own it. I can wish, but that would be a waste of my one wish. I am just using the characters for my own story. Rating subject to change at my whims, content may change slightly from what you're expecting, and I welcome any and all critiques. Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

When Mira came down to open up the guild hall, she caught the flash of sunlight off metal from the corner of her eye as she passed the window facing the courtyard.

She raced to the window and then to the door as she saw the exterior of the hall.

A spot of blue under a black jacket had her racing across the grass to see who it was.

The only person she could think of that small with blue hair was Levy, but the girl never fell asleep outside like this. Not with a book anyway.

As Mira dropped to the ground beside the girl, she realized there was no book in sight, nor was the jacket one of Levy's. She lifted the jacket folded over her a little and Levy made a sound like a sleepy kitten not wanting to wake.

There were no visible marks on her and other than the back of the jacket being wet in a Levy-shape, she was perfectly fine.

Mira looked at the guild hall again.

It looked like a huge wooden pin cushion. There were bits of wood laying near the walls where they had fallen down from when the metal was pushed through it. All the glass was broken, shattered beyond repair without special magic.

She was surprised whoever had done it hadn't hurt Levy too.

Instead, he, and from the size of the jacket it was most definitely a he, had wrapped Levy in the heavy leather coat and made sure she wouldn't get cold.

Mira ran back inside and returned a minute later with a very groggy Elfman, who upon seeing Levy, woke up and carried the girl back inside for his sister to look over better.

* * *

Levy woke up to the sounds of the guild coming to life.

Everyone who was awake was rushing about and someone was cooking something that smelled wonderful.

"Sis, she's up finally." Elfman called out to the other room.

Levy rubbed at her eyes as she took in the infirmary around her.

A metal pole was going through the wall, but the room was still usable.

She heard Mira talking to someone and then the light footsteps of the eldest Strauss sibling as she came to the door. Levy sat up as Mira came over.

"What were you doing outside this morning Levy? You nearly gave me more of a shock than the building did." Mira sat on the side of the bed.

"What happened?" Levy asked.

"We wanted to ask you. I woke up to get ready for the day and saw all this."

It came back to Levy like smoke. And then the fire struck.

"It was him. That man did all this." Levy said.

"Who?" Elfman asked frowning.

"Black Steel Gajeel." They heard from the doorway.

The three of them turned to face the master.

Makarov looked thoughtful for a few moments.

"Jose must be behind this prank." He said.

"But..." Mira started to speak.

"It's alright Mira, no damage we can't repair. I may have annoyed him a bit at the last meeting I had with him. He won't do this again." Makarov said.

Mira frowned. "I suppose we can fix it, but that means more work for everyone when they aren't out on missions." She said.

Levy looked at the window.

Or rather, what was left of it.

Most of the glass was gone, but it still had a nice view of the courtyard and the afternoon sun.

She sighed as she thought of how she could help repair the guild. It wouldn't be easy with the stronger members all out on missions and vacations. Mostly missions.

* * *

"Did they get the message?" Jose asked as Gajeel started to head upstairs to the room he had claimed.

"How should I know? I just delivered it, I didn't stick around for the reception." Gajeel said. "You'll know if they did or not soon enough."

Jose nodded as he let Gajeel continue upstairs for some rest.

The Dragon Slayer was ornery when tired and liable to kill for no reason.

It was one of the things that endeared the boy to him.

That and his physique. Gajeel could scare the life from most Mages without even lifting a finger or saying a word.

The red eyes and studs and overall scars and bad look were terrifying enough alone.

Gajeel went upstairs and bolted the door of his room behind him.

He reached for a chunk of scrap metal and stuck it in his mouth like a chip while holding the other small scraps in his hand.

He moved towards the bed and went to shrug his jacket off when he remembered he'd left it behind on that little fairy girl.

He grinned for a moment as he thought of how she had fainted at the sight of him.

Then his grin fell away as he remembered how horrible it felt when she had hit the damp ground.

His sliver of conscience had plagued him as he'd finished with the building to not leave her like that.

Instead of taking her like he would have normally, he had wrapped her up in his jacket, feeling the sense of rightness, and left her where her guild-mates would find her.

It made him feel odd.

He wasn't used to acts of kindness, but hurting her made him feel worse.

Gajeel reached for the back of his shirt as he shoved the rest of the scraps in his mouth and pulled his shirt off.

He flopped on the bed, getting his sick sense of pleasure as it creaked under his weight.

Torture was more his style.

Granted it was on a wooden bed at the moment, but he was still torturing something.

He dozed off to racing thoughts of those sad, scared pale brown eyes.

* * *

Levy was just helping clean up some of the debris when the main doors slammed open and then off their hinges.

Only Erza and Natsu could be so angry as to ruin the doors barely hanging on.

"What the hell happened?" Gray was the first to speak, but it was drowned out by Natsu's outburst of rage.

He was deservedly outraged, but when the master held up his hand, he went quiet.

"It's fine Natsu, no one was hurt."

"But the guild is destroyed, we have got to go after them." Natsu said.

"We can't just let them get away with this!" Gray said.

Master Makarov enlarged himself so that he was towering over them both. "We will leave them alone as one does with unruly children and go on with our missions." He shrank back down and Natsu and Gray held their tongues. "The guild wasn't destroyed. All the people around you are what make up this guild, not some building or sign."

Levy watched as Lucy smiled at the words.

"We will rebuild, bigger than ever and show them we won't go down so easily." Makarov said.

Levy smiled as Natsu scoffed.

He moved to talk to Mira as Erza grabbed his scarf.

She dragged him and Gray towards the master and Levy remembered that they had stolen an S class mission and would have to pay for it.

She giggled as she watched the master punish them with hits. The head for the boys and Lucy was smacked on her behind.

Levy continued to clean up as the three were praised for having completed the mission nearly without Erza's help.

She moved to take out the trash she had gathered up.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful as a couple of the members took local missions to get out and take a break.

* * *

**AN: **I tried to keep the formatting the same, but it's much harder than it seems when having to copy from an iPad through email and then to a document. Anyway, thank you for reading Chapter 2, I hope you enjoyed it. I will try to get the next chapter up in about two weeks. I will endeavor to get them up on a bi-weekly schedule on the weekends, so expect Chapter 3 either the 29th or 30th. Let me know what you think, I'd like the reviews, no matter what they are.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and never will. I don't even aspire to own it. I can wish, but that would be a waste of my one wish. I am just using the characters for my own story. Rating subject to change at my whims, content may change slightly from what you're expecting, and I welcome any and all critiques. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 3

"I don't think they got my message."

Gajeel looked up from the metal puzzle he was crafting out of his own metal.

He had taken a liking to create them and give them away. Some he gave to the quietest member of Element Four, Juvia Lockser, others he left in a box of toys at the local orphanage.

No one knew he was the one who left the toys except for Juvia. She was the one who hid his secret with her rain.

Gajeel gave Jose a blank look until he realized the man wanted something from him.

"And I'm supposed to do what? Kill one of them to start this war of yours?"

"My boy, you sound like you don't want the fight. Or are you afraid of that Dragon Slayer Makarov has in his little 'family' of weaklings?"

Gajeel scoffed and stuffed the new puzzle in his pocket. It was a simple dragon design that made its wings move when it was wound up by the crank on its belly.

"I'm not afraid of anything. I just don't fancy having to kill one of my own kind."

"Right, that 'Slayer and Dragon' bond you might share with the boy." Jose poked fun at him.

"I'll start your damn war, but you'd better be prepared to pay me a lot for this. I have plenty of better things to do." Gajeel stomped away from him and headed out the door.

* * *

Levy walked towards the park on her way back towards the guild.

The sun was setting and everything looked beautiful in the dark golden hue of it. The streaks of red and purple across the sky were lovely.

She reached out and grabbed her two partners by the arms and pulled them closer.

They had done a good job on this little job.

Jet and Droy had successfully managed to not make her do all the work this time and she was happy.

"You think we'll get the bonus Mira was talking about this morning?" Droy asked.

"Maybe." Jet said. "Not that it makes much of a difference."

"True, it all goes towards feeding Levy and her book collection anyway." Droy said.

Levy puffed up as she stuck her tongue out at them.

"I don't spend all our money." She said unworried.

Not even their teasing could bring her down right now.

She was used to them teasing her about the book collection in her room at the dorm.

If they only knew how bad it was.

They only got to see her buying the books, not that she didn't keep any of them organized and there were stacks all around the room.

The two boys joked between themselves over the mission they had just completed, taking it easy as they walked past the huge tree in the middle of the park.

Levy let them go as she paused to take in the golden light on the tree. It looked like it was gilded with real gold.

"Levy?" Jet stopped and turned towards her.

Droy stopped and turned back to see it as well.

Levy turned back to keep walking with a smile on her face.

It fell as she saw the imposing figure at the top of the stairs leading out of the park.

* * *

Gajeel saw the smile fall from her pretty little face and her two companions frowned as he used his much greater speed to come up behind them.

She tried to get out a scream as he touched both their shoulders and stood between them.

They finally realized he was there and as they turned, he shoved them away.

The little Fairy went to open her mouth and he reached out.

His job now was to kill them and get Makarov to go to war.

He put his finger over her mouth and part of him reveled in those soft lips just barely parted against his rougher skin.

The other two with her got to their feet and moved to attack.

Gajeel laughed as he stopped the one boy from kicking him and cut down the other boy's plants.

The girl pulled out a pen and Gajeel scoffed.

Her magic wouldn't hurt him.

He turned as the Speed Mage launched from one of the plant springs of the Plant Mage.

The kick caught him on the chest and he braced himself.

It was easy enough to shove him back again and get in a punch of his own to the Plant Mage, knocking the guy out cleanly.

His boot connected with the soft flesh of the poor Fairy and sent him flying into the tree behind him.

The Speedy one wasn't so easy.

Gajeel dodged several of his attacks, and the weak fire of the little woman.

She caught him off guard with a wind blast just as the other launched his attack.

Gajeel stumbled towards her as his feet slid out from under him.

He looked up to see the kick that would have been aimed at him heading for her instead.

They had obviously never been in real combat because she was too scared to move away from her spot.

* * *

Levy couldn't even find the wits to think about moving as Jet couldn't stop.

She was looking at Jet one second and then feeling warm arms around her and the scent of metal filling her senses.

The impact hit and she felt it as she was gripped tightly as they rolled out of the way.

When the dust settled, Levy opened her eyes to a black shirt and a feather shoulder guard against her left cheek.

He shoved away from her and his speed almost matched Jet's as he moved in to punch her partner.

She scrambled to her feet as he was drawing back for a third punch.

Levy tried to reach out and grab his arm as his hand came down.

She managed to grab the wrist of the hand holding up Jet as the Dragon Slayer pulled his other hand back again.

"Stop it!" She cried as his fist moved to hit.

* * *

Gajeel held his hand mere hairs from her beautiful little face as she gripped his wrist and stood in his way.

He couldn't hurt her.

He physically could not make himself hurt her.

He heard the other two starting to come to as he dropped the one.

She stood there, defying him.

Those adorable brown eyes looked for all the world like ones he wanted to see her directing towards someone else on his behalf. Full of anger and courage.

He scoffed as he walked towards the tree where the other Mage was still laying.

He covered the younger man's mouth as he brought his hand down on the guys leg.

The little woman came to beat at him as he tossed the man up and used his magic to bind the young man to the tree.

He turned around to face the other man and the woman moved to get in his way.

"I won't let you kill them." She said.

"You offering yourself as a replacement?" He snapped.

He moved around her as she was shocked for a moment.

It was enough time form him to get to the other man as he was getting up.

Gajeel placed his heavy boot on the man's right arm and pushed down.

"You won't hurt Levy." The man said.

Gajeel paused in his actions to contemplate the name.

It suited her.

Short and sweet. Rolled off the tongue well. He liked it.

He felt the impacts against his back as her tiny fists hit him.

He brought his foot up and the man pulled his arm away.

He made to get up and Gajeel kicked him in the ribs. It dropped him to the ground and knocked the wind from the guy.

* * *

Levy felt hopeless.

Nothing she had done magic-wise had affected him, nothing she said stopped him, and he didn't even flinch at her hitting him.

He cracked his hand on the back of Jet's head and her friend dropped like a wet rag.

She watched in horror as he tossed Jet into the air the same as he had Droy.

His magic flared to life again as he pinned Jet to the tree as well.

He turned to face her.

"Alone again."

"I...please don't kill them. I'll take their place, just please stop hurting my friends." She said.

She didn't even notice as tears started to slide down her face.

He reached out and brushed them away.

Levy looked up at him.

The maniacal grin on his face scared her, with the fangs showing and his red eyes.

"You're going to go to sleep for me. If you do as I say, I won't hurt those two any more than I have."

"I...what do you want me to do?" She felt so scared she couldn't move as he leaned down towards her.

"Nothing at all." He said.

She closed her eyes in fear that he was about to hurt her.

The hand that had brushed away her tears moved to wrap around the back of her neck.

It was warm, even if the leather was rough.

The gentle pressure against her lips made her relax for just a fraction of a second as he kissed her so gently.

Then he squeezed the back of her neck and she blacked out.

* * *

AN: Sorry this is cutting it close, and that it is actually Monday in some countries, but in my defense my weekend was exceptionally busy. I finally managed to get my iPad to copy straight to FanFiction instead of having to boot my computer up nigh late at night here in my time zone (still Sunday here, so to me this is cutting it close but I'm still keeping my promise to you all)! As an apology for it being so much on deadline instead of earlier, Chapter 4 will be longer. I will have that up by the 12/13 of April, or two weeks from now for those who don't want to look at the calendar. Cheers everyone. Thanks for reading!

PS: Thanks to those of you who favorited and are now following my story. It made me so very happy to see that you like it.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and never will. I don't even aspire to own it. I can wish, but that would be a waste of my one wish. I am just using the characters for my own story. Rating subject to change at my whims, content may change slightly from what you're expecting, and I welcome any and all critiques. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 4

The guild stared in shock at the tree in the center of the park.

The blood dripping down it was all From Jet and Droy as far as Mira could tell.

She brought her hand up to her mouth as she focused on the smallest member of Shadow Gear.

Levy didn't look like she was more than scraped up, but the emblem of Phantom Lord was painted on her stomach in what looked like red paint, but Mira had a sickening feeling it was blood. From Jet and Droy most likely.

She turned as Master Makarov came to the front of the gathering of people to see what was going on.

The look of rage on his face spoke volumes.

There may be a rule against guilds fighting each other, but he was not going to let this slide.

Mira was so focused on the three on the tree that it was only the next words Makarov said that caught her attention.

"They want a war, then they'll have one." He looked ready to kill someone.

Mira turned as Laki came running.

"Can you get them down?" Mira asked.

Laki let a few tears fall as she looked up as the three of them. She nodded at Mira.

Elfman and Macao took Jet and Droy at her command and Mira motioned for Gray to get Levy as Laki's wood control brought her down.

* * *

"I think they got the message this time. Perfect." Jose said.

Gajeel grumbled as he went to go upstairs.

He was walking down the hall that he and the Element Four had to themselves, heading for his own room at the end, when he saw Juvia coming out of her room. The rain had just been starting up around the guild, which meant she was waking up.

He stopped in front of her.

"You like the new one?" He asked.

She nodded. "Juvia thinks it is...very you." She spoke quietly, and without her typical ending. He liked it better than that stupid 'drip drop' thing she'd had going on since she showed up.

"Juvia must go out. There is research to be done on the mission."

Gajeel nodded and moved past her.

He glanced at her as she turned the corner before opening his door.

He went inside and closed the heavy iron door behind him.

The sound of him flopping on the bed was the last sound that echoed in the empty room.

He felt horrible.

The feeling stuck in his gut made him physically want to throw up.

Hurting those two guys didn't satisfy his craving for torture, but it did appease it. Hurting her made him feel ten times worse than making her faint had and counteracted every attempt to make himself feel better by tormenting others.

He groaned as he turned to bury his face in the flat pillow. It wasn't satisfying either.

He had to wait this out, because if Jose got what he wanted, Gajeel wasn't sure he could stand to see that little fairy hurt by his own guild.

May she not take part in the coming war. He really hoped she stayed out of it.

* * *

The guild was in an uproar.

Master Makarov spent a few minutes getting things settled back down before he realized that Natsu and Happy were gone.

He sighed as Mira was shaking her head.

That boy would never learn to sit still.

Not that he would blame Natsu for acting on impulse. With Lucy mysteriously gone, the young Dragon Slayer would stop at nothing to find her.

"It is likely to say that she got kidnapped by Phantom Lord." Laki said from the bar counter.

She and Mira stood there, worried about their friends. Mira wiped glasses out as she set them on a tray and Laki stacked plates as she dried them off. Anything to keep their hands busy, otherwise they might start fretting.

"Natsu will bring her back." Erza said strongly. "He refuses to give up and that will play to his advantage. Just give him some time."

"We have to organize the others. Gather everyone in the vicinity, we need as many of our family as we can get here." Makarov said.

Mira nodded as she put down the last glass. She and Cana went to call the upper members of the guild back from their missions.

They knew Guildarts was not going to come. But if Mystogan and Laxus with his group came back and the few members they were missing returned from around town were here, they would stand a good chance in this.

Mira stopped at Levy's bedside as they headed upstairs to the communication Lacrima.

"She'll pull through this. He didn't hurt her this time either." Cana said as she put a hand on Mira's shoulder.

Mira nodded. "I know, she's very strong."

"Exactly." Cana smiled as they went upstairs to try and get a hold of everyone not in the building.

* * *

Levy woke up to the white walls of the temporary infirmary.

Jet was talking to Cana and Laki, his arm hanging uselessly in a sling.

Levy didn't show any signs of being awake as she listened to them.

"It was just weird." Jet said.

"But you attacked him and he didn't kill you." Laki said.

"Which is the weird part. And he didn't follow through his actions when he put Levy up either."

"So let me get this straight," Cana said as she set aside the small barrel she was drinking from. It was a great reduction from normal for her. "The Iron Dragon Slayer shows up and you go after him? Are you stupid?"

"We didn't go after him." Jet shook his head as he motioned with his hand to wave that thought off. "He just showed up and started attacking us. We only fought back."

Cana and Laki looked as though they were stumped. How strong was this Iron Dragon Slayer to trash Jet and Droy so easily according to the mages themselves? Was there anyone in the guild strong enough to fight back?

"What's more, when Levy caught him off guard and pushed him out of the way of my attack, he pretty much scrambled to get footing and get her out of my way." Jet said.

"You nearly attacked Levy?" Laki gaped at him.

"So he protected Levy?" Cana sounded confused.

"Pretty much." Jet answered them both, hanging his head in shame.

"That's pretty strange." Cana said.

Jet nodded. It was strange, someone from an enemy guild protecting one of them. Granted, Levy had a way about her that lent itself to most people wanting to protect her of their own free will. But it was still weird.

Levy heard a snort of laughter from the door and peeked enough to see Master Makarov standing there.

"The infamous Iron Dragon Slayer has a soft spot for our little Levy eh?" He scoffed and turned away again.

Levy couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

She closed them tightly and drifted back off to sleep.

* * *

When she opened her eyes again, she was in the local hospital.

She got up and moved to where Jet and Droy were in the room next door.

They looked up at her.

"You guys ready to check out?" She asked.

"Waiting for you to say when." Jet said with his customary grin.

She smiled and they started to get up.

Jet helped Droy with his crutch and the three of them signed themselves out.

The walk to the guild wasn't very far, luckily for Droy, and they made it just in time to hear the cheer of victory from the rest of the guild.

"But...all of this is my fault." Lucy cried.

Levy shook her head.

"We don't blame you Luce, Fairy Tail has enough of its own enemies that this is nothing special." Levy said.

Lucy turned to face her with surprise on her face.

Levy braced herself as Lucy rushed to hug her.

"Oh Levy! I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen!"

Levy patted her back as Mira came towards them as well.

"We're a guild Lucy, we all stick together." Mira smiled.

Levy was happy that things got sorted out so easily.

* * *

There were a few calm days afterward while they started to rebuild the guild.

Droy helped as much as he could, and Jet ran around passing out lunches to everyone for Mira.

Levy was happy to see her friends feeling better.

There was a small bit of a scare when Lucy tried to leave, but Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Happy brought her back.

Levy was just walking with her teammates towards the guild when they saw a fight breaking out.

They hurried to see what the commotion was about. Was Gray wandering around stripping in front of Erza again? Or was Natsu slacking off and getting beat on by Lucy?

"This guild doesn't need weaklings."

Levy knew that voice.

She knew that build too. Tall, muscled, and quite honestly like a living tank. She had secretly admired him and his team for years.

It was Laxus,a powerful Lightning Mage, and the masters grandson.

He turned on the three of them.

"You three should just quit now. You aren't worth the jobs you take on. You're pathetically weak."

Levy looked down. She knew she was weak. She would always be weak compared to most of the guild.

"Leave them alone." She heard Lucy call out.

"As for you, you're the reason nothing went well. And the cause of this whole mess to begin with." He said, turning to face her instead.

"You trying to pick a fight?" Natsu shouted.

Levy watched him try to hit Laxus, but he couldn't. The older Mage simply changed to lightning and zapped to another spot.

"Stop running away you bastard." Natsu lashed out again.

"It's only a fight if you can actually hit me. But you're way too weak to do it. Try again when you get stronger." He laughed. "When I take over, you might be strong enough to stay a part of Fairy Tail."

"We don't need you in control to be a strong guild." Natsu shouted at him, echoing the feeling Levy had inside.

Levy watched as Laxus turned and walked away. It was a few more steps before he just vanished in his bolt of lightning.

* * *

It was another two days of peace before Levy got a mission from Mira that her still healing team could handle.

A simple translation of a recently discovered manuscript dating over a thousand years old.

When she brought it to her two teammates, they seemed leery of leaving while they were still weak.

But she convinced them it would be easy and they sighed as they went along with it.

She had them and her whole translating kit on the train headed for a city to the south.

Levy was going to enjoy getting back out into the world again.

* * *

AN: Hey, sorry this is shorter than I promised, I've been super busy with classes. Had Accounting exam things to study for, got three English papers due shortly that I need to finish up, had a Business Ethics presentation to stress over since I had no internet for a bit, and just general stress making me physically sick. Still no true excuse, but I did strive to be on time though, which is a plus to me since I have no time lately. I'll try to do better next time.

So here is where things start to diverge from the original story a little bit. Things are going to change up a little, due to the way I want to write this story, but you should be able to tell where I'm at for the most part. Let me know if you see any mistakes or such so I can fix them. Next chapter should be done and put up two weeks from now: so the 27th if things go as planned.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and never will. I don't even aspire to own it. I can wish, but that would be a waste of my one wish. I am just using the characters for my own story. Rating subject to change at my whims, content may change slightly from what you're expecting, and I welcome any and all critiques. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 5

Gajeel stared out over the rubble left of the Phantom Lord Guild Headquarters.

He moved to sit on a pile and picked up some of the rusting metal.

He flipped it in his hand for a few moments before taking a bite of it.

The acrid taste of rust made him recoil, but it was some of the last metal left in this pile, and some of the last that wasn't rusted completely.

It had been days now since the Council had taken Jose away and locked him up.

He had earned his bail somehow and they had thrown him back out.

The rest of the members wandered off to hell knew where and he didn't care.

He knew Juvia was alright, since she was with the damn guild that destroyed them.

He looked up as he heard someone coming.

The scent got to him before he bothered to go on defense.

He waited and she came up to sit beside him on a board.

She leaned her blue haired head against his arm.

"Juvia brought you some good food." She set a basket on his right leg, partially supporting it with her left.

He grunted and looked out at the sea.

"You do not have to stay here you know." Juvia said.

"I...I screwed up. No one is going to take me as a member so long as I can't get this emblem off." He said.

Juvia sighed.

"I brought you some quality iron as well. I asked one of Fairy Tail's mages to find where I could get some and that lovely Mirajane told me that one of their mages could create it."

"I won't eat it." He scoffed. "I won't have charity."

"Mira made the food for Juvia in exchange for some work in the yard. Master Makarov seems very much different from what Master Jose always told us." She opened the basket and the scent of steamed beef buns came out. Along with various sautéed vegetables and he caught the faint hint of something sugary in the mix.

It smelled almost too good to resist.

Juvia held up a bag and dangled it in front of him.

"Juvia does not want to see her only friend hungry and alone." She said.

Gajeel looked away from the bag as he pulled the metal dragon from his jacket pocket where he'd stuffed it yesterday after finding it again.

She opened the bag and he lost the fight with his stomach to not rumble, even as he felt sick at the scent.

It was pure iron, lovingly made from magic, his favorite kind due to the way he gained a boost of power beyond normal thanks to the magic inside the metal.

But it held the scent of leather and parchment and ink and he knew just who had made it.

The little mage he'd beaten and pinned to the tree.

He may not have physically beaten her, but he had broken her soul a little by hurting her friends like that.

"Juvia will be accompanying her beloved and his group tomorrow as they do what they do. Master Makarov says that if Miss Erza approves, then Juvia has leave to join their guild."

"Good for you." He stared at his own creation.

Anything to not look at the bag.

Juvia placed it on top of the basket and slid the whole thing so that it sat on his lap, forcing him to look at it.

"Juvia will be back here soon enough, so do stay safe."

Gajeel grunted again as she stood to leave.

She leaned down and touched her cheek to the top of his head as she hugged him.

"Things will get better, Juvia knows it." She stepped away.

She was just leaving the rubble when he called out.

"Be safe alright." He could just feel her smiling as she laughed walking away.

If anyone could handle him out of character, it was her.

She took him in stride and he never minded the rain, until it rusted his metal, then he grumbled a little.

Gajeel stared at the basket on his lap.

He moved the bag gingerly to the side and opened the lid again to pull out a single container of food.

Days worth of meals in individual containers.

He scoffed as he opened the container and stabbed at the bun with a finger he turned to a knife.

He finished before looking at the bag again.

It smelled so good, and yet he wanted to throw up even as he enjoyed it.

He tossed it in the basket and moved it to where he had been sleeping lately on a torn mat under a piece of overhanging cement floor.

* * *

Levy ushered her two partners onto the train as Jet yawned. They had stayed up half the night watching over her as she translated the writing and were finally tired after she had dozed for an hour or so as Jet had run to get the mission papers stamped and the fees transferred to the Fairy Tail accounts for the team.

Mira would see to it that each of them got enough to pay rent in the case of Jet and Droy where they shared a small apartment down the street from the guild.

Jet stumbled over the doorway of the compartment they were going to be in and Levy took his bag.

She took Droy's as well as he set the walking stick to the side and propped his legs up on the bench across from him between the wall and Jet.

Jet mumbled as he shifted so that he wasn't putting pressure on Droy's injured leg and then kicked his own boots off to put his feet up on the seat beside Droy.

Levy look down at them from where she stood on the seat beside Jet to put all their bags up on the shelf.

They each looked adorable as they already started to drift off.

She pulled her smaller backpack over and tugged out the blanket that was stuffed into one of the pockets.

She stepped down as the train started moving and braced herself to toss the blanket over them both.

Droy smiled at her as he laid his head against the wall and Jet mumbled again as he used his hat for a pillow.

She sat down on the same bench as Droy and curled up against the door with her own pillow and the heavy duty black jacket that the Iron Dragon Slayer had wrapped her in when he had destroyed the guild.

There was just something about the weight and the texture and the scent that she liked.

He scared the life out of her, but his scent wouldn't leave the leather and as Mira had hemmed the ragged edge to fit her height and hemmed the sleeves to keep her hands out, Levy had found herself wanting to keep it in.

Jet had told her over and over how sorry he was about nearly hurting her and that as bad as it looked, his arm was only cracked on the outer side, not broken.

Droy had also assured her that the Slayer had been pulling his punches, because as painful as his leg was, it was just cracked and had bruising on the bone.

The Iron Dragon Slayer had slapped Lucy up a little, trying to scare her, but he had yet to really hurt any of the guild. Least of all Levy. Natsu didn't count.

Levy brought her hand up to push the collar of the jacket in where she could smell his scent.

She used her powers of persuasion to convince one of the stewardesses to wake them up as they came into Magnolia.

Levy drifted off to sleep as the woman promised to wake them.

* * *

Gajeel was not prepared for company.

He wasn't even suited for a fight.

He grumbled as the little man came to sit beside him, without asking or receiving permission.

Master Makarov was not a big man in the slightest. Gajeel had a feeling that was due to the Titan magic he used all the time.

"I see you're out of food." The Master said.

Gajeel grunted.

"We have plenty and you can attest that Mirajane is a wonderful cook, you just have to come down to the guild and you're welcome to eat."

Gajeel scoffed.

"Juvia and Erza's team are due back any time now. We've gotten word of everything that happened."

Gajeel looked out at the water.

"She shows great promise as a member of this Guild and one of my kids."

Gajeel huffed.

"You could be too if you wanted. There's always room for another more in this family."

"I'm never going to be a part of your family, so piss off old man." Gajeel snapped.

Master Makarov didn't get upset and that made Gajeel more uneasy.

"You should know that I'm willing to forgive all damages on a condition."

"Why?" Gajeel asked.

Master Makarov frowned.

"Why what?"

"Why bail me? Why recruit me?"

Master Makarov reached for the cloth bag still holding the iron.

He tossed it in his hands before looking up at Gajeel.

"I saw a young man once so desperate for power that he hurt the only person who trusted him unconditionally. He betrayed everything he'd been taught and everyone who was around him. He took the darker path of life and now he's mad and destructive of himself and those around him." The older man said. "I can see you starting down that path as well. And I feel that as you have only gone a few steps, it is better for yourself and those in your future if you get back on track."

"I'm not going to walk in the light old man. My hands are already covered in blood." Gajeel said in a tone that suggested he wanted to, but believed he couldn't.

"I'm not asking you to. What I'm asking..." Master Makarov reached to pull Gajeel's hand palm up and smacked the bag into his scarred hand. "What I'm begging of you, is to do what is right for her. She doesn't need light. She needs someone who can hold back the dark."

With that, the older man hopped down to the ground, leaving Gajeel alone again as he wandered off.

Gajeel looked down at the bag in his hand.

He felt his chest tighten as he pulled it open.

The scent hit him like a brick to the head.

But this time, he didn't feel sick from it.

He reached in and pulled out the beautifully made word of iron. It was perfect.

He felt the tightness ease away as he broke the iron in half and nibbled at it, quickly taking bigger bites of it until he stuffed the other half in his mouth in two bites.

He would do it. He would do whatever mission the old man wanted and look out for the little woman too.

* * *

Levy was just walking into the hall marveling at how much had changed in such a small amount of time.

She froze as she caught sight of red eyes from across the room near the bar.

He met her gaze before breaking it himself, letting her hurry off and hide.

She could faintly hear it as Droy and Jet complained about him being there.

The Master came to the stage as Erza and her group came in the doors leading to the guild.

"I'd like to announce two new members to you brats." He shouted at them all.

Levy peeked up from where she was sitting to see the Iron Dragon Slayer still staring at her.

"We have Juvia Lockser and Gajeel Redfox."

There were a few mumbles about Juvia, but at Gajeel's name the guild burst into outrage.

"He ruined our guild."

"He hurt Lucy."

"He's why Jet and Droy are still injured."

"Enough." The Master shouted, silencing them.

Levy watched Gajeel stand and head for the door.

"I have decided and if you brats can't accept that, then I dare you to challenge my rule."

Levy watched Gajeel leave as she held his jacket around her tighter.

* * *

AN: Hey, thank you to the people who have read this up until now, I love seeing that more people read this every time! And double thanks to everyone who've favorited the story, me, or followed the story. It makes me so very happy.

So sorry if characters are missing, I won't be putting in a lot of the secondary characters unless they are needed, but they may be mentioned. I'm mainly focusing on the people who were in the time-skip on the island as they are the primary characters of the story. If you want hints on the pairings, you can visit my profile and check out the ones I prefer. As I state there, I'm open to other pairings if a valid argument can be made. Sorry for Natsu and Lissana fans but going from Mashima's history, I seriously doubt that will be done, same for Gray or Loke with Lucy, but I can throw some scenes in if people request it. Let me know if there is anything you all want for this, I will take it into consideration if it fits into my plotline. Thanks for reading this newest chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and never will. I don't even aspire to own it. I can wish, but that would be a waste of my one wish. I am just using the characters for my own story. Rating subject to change at my whims, content may change slightly from what you're expecting, and I welcome any and all critiques. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 6

Levy stayed around the guild for the next few days in the hopes that she would run into Gajeel, but he never seemed to show up.

She sat at the bar as Jet and Droy shot pool against Cana and Lucy. Natsu and Happy stood at the sides cheering for the girls.

Levy smiled as Cana pocketed another ball where she wanted to.

Even drunk as she normally was, she was better than most of the guild. She was a good partner for Lucy, who wasn't all that good at pool.

"You are smiling, but something tells me you are sad." Mira said as she set a glass of lemonade on the counter.

Levy faced her as Mira put a straw in it and pushed it towards her.

"Is it noticeable?" Levy sighed.

"To me." Mira shrugged. "But then, I'm much more observant than most people."

Levy winced at the sour taste and at Mira's words.

"Let me guess, this sadness has to do with a tall, dark, and brooding man?" Mira asked sweetly.

Levy just looked up at her, pleading with her eyes to not make her answer.

Mira smiled, she knew the answer already. "What's the matter?" Mira asked.

Levy sighed again.

"He's ignoring me. He makes no comment when I wear his jacket and he does see me. And I feel like he's just taking for granted all the words I write that you or Juvia give him."

Mira smiled brighter. She absolutely loved making pair of her guild mates. Since her own object of affection was such a bastard, it made her feel better. Of course, he had no idea she thought he was handsome and strong, just lacking a bit in the caring field.

She felt Levy needed a perk, sitting there forlorn as she was.

"He asked about you this morning in fact." Mira said. "Wanted to know if you were taking any jobs yet. I told him I would keep him posted on that."

"Wants to stay away from Shadowgear no doubt."

"Oh I doubt that a great deal. He only asked about you, not your team. And he did comment on your new attire. Shortly after he came to the guild earlier this week, he saw you wearing it and asked me why."

Levy looked at Mira with a little hope burgeoning in her. Maybe he didn't hate her.

"I told him I didn't know, but I had hemmed it for you. He said it looked good on you, I quote: 'gives her a rebellious feel.'" Mira said with that mimic of Gajeel's voice.

Levy was almost startled, but it didn't have that same timbre that his voice did.

"I just like the feel, and it's warm." She said contrarily. Even if it did swamp her in leather and hung off her shoulders loosely.

"Point being: he noticed and I think he rather liked it." Mira said. "As for the iron, I want to say he enjoys it. Juvia says he does."

"Well...then why is he ignoring me?" Levy slumped on the counter and swirled the ice around in the otherwise empty glass.

Mira took the glass away and pulled out a mug.

Levy watched her fill it with one of the strongest alcohols Fairy Tail owned.

"He seems to be sleeping in late, but have you noticed the new metal bracings on the structure of the guild?" Mira pointed up.

Levy looked up and noticed all the joints of the beams were wrapped in iron. It was going to hold until the end of time unless someone like Natsu went truly crazy in the guild.

Mira set the mug down on the counter.

"Maybe he wants to talk just as much as you, but he's just as shy." Mira shrugged and motioned to the far side of the room.

Levy frowned as she followed the older woman's hand gesture.

She watched as the familiar muscled Slayer dropped himself into a chair.

She smiled at Mira as she picked up the mug.

* * *

Gajeel groaned as he threw himself into the seat.

It felt so good to get off his feet for seemingly the first time since three days ago.

He had been working non-stop to improve his image as a member of Fairy Tail. At least to the public.

The rest of the guild hated him. They didn't notice the improvements he supposed. He'd found several weak points in the guild's structure and used his own iron each night for the past week to reinforce it. So far no one had noticed except that barmaid Demon. He could feel the level of magic she possessed, even though she never used it, and lord help the guild if she ever did.

She had thanked him and told him that first drink of the night was always on the house for the rest of the time he was there.

He grumbled over accepting that, but she smiled and mentioned that if he made sure Levy was safe, she would never charge him for the first drink or damages to the guild.

And then she had confided in him that the monetary structure she and the Old Man had set up secretly funneled away money from the rewards the guild members earned. She made sure that each of them had the money for things like rent and food and allowances, but if they were high damage members like Flame Head and Stripper she took more of their rewards in order to compensate the damage they did to the guild.

He had felt a little guilty due to destroying the guild before, even if no one was in it.

Gajeel glanced up as he heard someone coming closer. It didn't sound like Juvia or the Old Man, so he was curious.

He wished he could sink into a lake at the sight of the one person he'd been trying to stay away from.

He hadn't been ignoring her, just avoiding her. And her lap dogs. At least, they would like to be lap dogs.

She held out a mug and he had to admit she looked cute today.

He could see his old jacket by the bar where she'd been sitting, acting as a cushion.

Part of him envied his jacket, being so close to her all the time.

"What?" He sounded grumpy even to himself.

"I..." She sounded nervous and scared.

He reached out and took the mug.

"There, go, shoo." He waved her away with his other hand.

She shuffled on her feet as he leaned back and gulped down a good portion of the whiskey.

"I...why are you avoiding me?" She asked quickly.

He almost spit up the whiskey he was about to drink.

"It's just, this whole week you've been rushing in and out and fixing the guild and I've been making that iron and everything and you haven't even looked at me or yelled at me for ruining your jacket or-" He reached up and put a finger over her lips.

Her skin was just as soft as he remembered.

"Take a breath." He said.

"Hey you wusses, you can't drop the game now, unless you're chicken shits." Cana shouted.

Gajeel knew he only had a few seconds.

"I'm not ignoring or avoiding you. I just can't be around you yet. I do appreciate the iron, especially as a midnight snack when I'm working here." He said.

He pulled his hand back just as her dogs got to them.

"You stay away from Levy you bastard." Droy said.

"How dare you touch her." Jet snapped.

"I told you: we just can't be friends." He grinned at Levy as the boys put themselves between the two of them.

Gajeel looked at them as he chugged the rest of his large mug of whiskey.

Cana cheered him on and he gave her a thumbs up.

She seemed to be the only one other than Mira who didn't hate him. Levy didn't count, she was too scared of him.

He stood up and towered over Jet and Droy.

They paled but didn't back down.

* * *

Levy had to admit that it looked a lot like two small dogs challenging a wolf. They would be eaten, but they wouldn't back down because they were too stupid.

Gajeel shoved past them and pushed the mug back into Levy's hands.

He waved at Mira as he went to the door.

As he put his hand on the swinging door he glanced back over his shoulder.

"Oh, and for the record: you look better than I do in that jacket." He said before heading out the door.

Levy just stared after him as Jet and Droy's promises that he would never get close to her again just faded past her ears.

They could never promise that.

Because even if he stayed away from her, she didn't want to stay away from him.

She ignored them to go back to where Mira was at the bar.

"Worth it?" Mira asked.

Levy nodded.

"Good." Mira took the mug back and washed it out.

She hung it to dry as Levy pulled out her pen.

She wrote out a few small words of iron and Mira set them under the counter.

"Do you have any missions I can do by myself?" Levy asked.

"No, I'm afraid not." Mira sighed. She nudged Levy to look at one of the pages on the wall behind her. "However, there are a couple two-man missions."

Levy frowned.

"What does that do to help me? I have a three person group." Levy sighed.

Mira pulled one sheet of the wall and set it in front of Levy.

Levy looked down at it and read over the mission.

It was a simple bandit catching job. They were stealing highly rare and expensive books from a mansion in the town over.

It required someone who could fight the bandits and someone who knew their books from fakes.

Levy frowned until she saw the name scribbled at the bottom.

Gajeel Redfox.

"I simply cannot send in this for verification. It needs two signatures." Mira said. She leaned in conspiratorially and Levy leaned in as well. "I heard from a valid source that the reason he took this job was because he was going to try and get the reward for someone who was very nervous and timid around him."

Levy smiled.

"If you hurry you should be able to catch up with him." Mira said. "The ticket I got for him is for the 3:40 train."

Levy reached for the pen Mira was holding and quickly signed her name at the bottom of the page. Right under Gajeel's strangely fluid handwriting.

Mira conjured another ticket and held it up.

"Can you..." Levy looked at where Jet and Droy had gotten sucked into another game with Cana and Lucy.

"I'll make sure they don't even notice until it is far too late." Mira smiled.

Levy smiled as she turned to hop off the stool and pulled Gajeel's jacket on.

She walked out, ticket firmly in hand as she headed for the train station.

Her magic pen was in her pocket and the exceedingly rare bag she had earned a while back, holding her best translating and research books, was in the inside pocket.

She was ready to catch that train.

* * *

Gajeel looked at the clock as he held up the ticket the Demon had given him.

It was about half an hour until boarding.

He moved for the train door as the little man handed him back his ticket.

He made his way to the very last compartment in the train and plopped himself on the bench.

He was just leaning back when he caught a flash of blue hair out the window.

He frowned as he shifted to try and see what it was.

He pulled the window open and frowned as he looked down the platform.

He caught the sight of that tiny mage he had been trying to get away from as she climbed up onto the train.

"Must have a mission with those lapdogs." He mumbled as he closed the window and sat back. He kicked his feet up on the seat across from him and put his hands behind his head.

He was just about to consider a nap when the tapping of boots stopped in the doorway.

He looked up and froze.

How the hell had she caught up? How the hell had she known?

Gajeel caught sight of the mission paper in her hand, the copy that was supposed to be in his bag.

"Mirajane." He growled.

Levy just smiled.

* * *

AN: Hey everybody, I come bearing gifts for Mothers'd Day. Dumb name for a holiday, same with Fathers Day. Why have a single day of appreciation when it should be shown all year round? Anywho, thank you for reading this newest chapter. Much thanks for helping me break 1000 viewers! That was a little goal of mine that I bet a friend I could break that limit within 5 chapters and we did, so now I am super happy. And I'm going to see about making the rest of you super happy with an offer: now that I have some free time during the summer (when I'm not typing out my books) I would like to put out the chance to get a new chapter every Sunday or continue with my regular pattern of every other Sunday. Leave me a comment or shoot me a message to let me know which, you'll have until the 25th to cast a vote. And again, thanks for reading, it makes me happy!


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